Divorce lawyer - retainers standard practice? ?

With a simple divorce such as the one you are speaking of the retainer really should only be around $500 or so. But...I don't know the going rate in the area you reside. One days worth of work which really probably only amounts to about 4 hours (if that much) - that's $375.00 per hour. Pretty steep if you ask me. Have you not tried contacting the county courthouse and asking about legal aid assistance? The thing that I'm just a bit curious about is that the lawyer you are speaking with should be filing your own petition instead of going along with the "messed up" papers the ex has filed in court.

I work for a law firm that does divorce and $1,500 is a very normal rate for an UNCONTESTED divorce which includes one court date. That is where both parties agree and there is no property to distribute.

If the spouse filed for straight up divorce and is not asking for any settlement and your sister in law is not contesting it, $1,500 seems completely fair for sorting out messy paperwork and attending court on your SIL's behalf. It very well could get sorted out that day.

Good luck!

PS- make sure to ask if this is a flat fee or retainer. If it is flat fee, you can expect a certain amount of work to be done on your behalf regardless of how much time is actually spent. You will receive no itemized statement for his hours.

If it is a retainer, you can expect the balance (if there is any) to be refunded to you, an itemized statement, and to pay an hourly rate after the retainer runs out.

The flat fee almost always works out in the client's favor (I'm the billing manager)- at least here in the DC area where an hour of actual court time can take five or more with travel time and waiting around the courthouse time. There are also several documents to file and prepare.

Since the spouse filed for divorce already, you need to have someone at that court date.

All states in the US have specific laws regarding funds that do not belong to the attorneys. Depending on the retainer agreement, the funds are either earned upon retention (you are usually reserving the attorney to work for you, kind of like a deposit) or earned upon completion of the work. If there was "unused" money, and your retainer agreement allows for a refund, they will be required to refund the amount to you. However, just because you saw an "unused" portion on your last bill from 6 years ago, it doesn't mean that the retainer was not a "non-refundable" retainer. Also, even if there is a refund due to you, it will likely not contain interest. Most attorneys pool their money into a common account. The interest for this account goes to IOLTA in most states (Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts). You need to request a refund from your attorney's office, unless you know that your retainer was non-refundable. If they indicate that the entire retainer was applied to legal fees (and you know or find out that it was refundable) then you can request an accounting of those legal fees.

A lot of lawyers want a retainer, especially in divorce. If he's reasonably cheap, why not use him? Does she have any friends back where she was that could go meet him or something and give her an opinion on if he's seedy or not? You could also check out whatever law society there may be for the state on the internet...there may be some guidelines there that might help.

Good luck to her!!

If there were no children born of the marriage and no joint property owned, there is no reason for "divorce papers". As soon as the wife left the state, the husband should have filed for legal separation noting his wife's abandonment to whereabouts unknown, then taken out a public notice in the newspapers stating he would no longer be responsible for her debts as of the date she left.

Eighteen months is the average wait time between filing a legal separation and notice of divorce hearing. The husband will claim on the separation papers that his wife left no forwarding address. The notice of hearing will then be sent to both of them separately, at the last known address. The husband may need to take out another public notice to "notify" his wife of the hearing date to finalize the divorce, and may need to do so for three weeks in a row. After that, he shows up in court and the judgment is finalized.

If the husband or wife isn't rushing to remarry, why shell out $1,500? Just file the paperwork for the legal separation and let the wheels of justice turn accordingly.

That is quite common. After you pay the retainer, your lawyer subtracts her hourly rate from what you've paid for each hour worked until the case is over or until she depletes your retainer, whichever happens first. If your lawyer has used up your retainer, you'll start getting bills. Some lawyers will want a new retainer; others might simply bill you on a weekly or monthly basis.

Ask him what his hourly rate is. Ask him what expenses you'll be expected to pay. If he really is a lawyer, he will send you a precisely itemized bill showing how much time he spent and what expenses he incurred. If your retainer runs out, he will ask you for more money. If he stops representing you, he we will refund the remaining retainer.

If there are no children and the divorce is uncontested, there should be very little problem.